REPCO CROSSFLOW HEADS FOR GREY MOTORS

[36kemp]

Found this on the "OLD TIME SPEEDWAY "website:
"Repco Crossflow Head - posted 24 June, 2008

Rod is in the process of remanufacturing the Repco Crossflow Head for the Holden Sideplate Grey Motor. Approx price, including GST, $5.500. If anyone is interested, please email Rod on rocket2rod@bigpond.com"

Knowing theres a bit of interest on here for ol Holden speed equipment ,might be interesting to see what comes of it.cheers mick

[NOI53Y]

Hell yeah. That would be awesome. I'd love on of those on an old grey. pity they are $5500 but i'm sure they would take a lot to make.

Do you have any pics of what they look like. I don't think I have ever seen one

[FCCOOL]

Hell yeah. That would be awesome. I'd love on of those on an old grey. pity they are $5500 but i'm sure they would take a lot to make.

Do you have any pics of what they look like. I don't think I have ever seen one

machining and a few parts for my red was 5500 so its not real big, getting a red head done up is 1500- 2000.
still, it wouldnt be like having a real one.

[36kemp]

If you Google it a couple of pics come up,i dont know how to get them on here though .Phil Irving, who was a brilliant engineer had a hand in the design of them,(Vincent motorcycle fame).A great looking piece of equipment thats for sure.Hopefully there is enough interest amongst the early Holden guys and the vintage race and speedway guys to get the project rolling.Good stuff,cheers mick

[(AUST)Mod]

I rekon a fair few people from the FBEK forum will order some

[pvcerod]

Is'nt it funny........well sad really.......I used to work with a Guy who was an Auto Teacher a TAFE & he was telling us about the when he worked for REPCO many years ago.......they took a couple of Pallet loads of those Cross Flow Heads to the Scrap Yard because they would'nt Sell.......Nobody wanted them back then........now they would kill for one.

[pvcerod]

http://earlyholdens.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=41

[springer]

I know a guy who just made some roller rockers for somebody with a xflow grey
Maybe making rocker covers as well

[GlenC]

Slightly o/t but a bloke in Campsie built a 12 port head for the grey motor in his drag-only FJ in the 60's. I think it was a Vauxhall 6 head he sliced up and modified to fit the grey motor combustion chambers, then had McGee grind him a 'reverse' grind camshaft as the intake ports ended up above the exhaust cam lobes on the grey motor cam and vice versa.

He topped it all off with six small SU carbs, one for each port, and six pipes hanging out just behind the passenger front wheel. Bloody thing went like the clappers when he could get it firing on all 6, but he had all sorts of fuel and ingnition problems with it, and I have no idea what happened to it in the end. He used to tow it to Castlereagh, it was light grey or green with Bren gun carrier wheels on it if anyone else remembers it.

[parisian62]

Have a look here as well...

http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3226

regards
Stewart

[Mr Cool]

A mate used to have one of these, very unusual head indeed. Strangest thing was the pushrods, one was at 15 degrees from memory to the other (inlet/exhaust - I cant remember which one was which now).
They also hung over the block alot too, they were much wider than the grey block.

[Bob Honeybrook]

Hi Glen C, the bloke from Campsie came from Croydon Park his name was Darrel McCarthy and the head was a Vauxhall. The conversion was done by McGees and was made for a speedcar motor, from memory it was almost a bolt on fit, it needed three head studs that went right through the block and the nuts were in the oil pan. The cam had to have some of the lobes reversed I do not know which ones, it was fitted with six Amal motorcycle carbys, and it took Darrel a while to get it going. when it went it went hard. Darrel's dad was a NSW police inspector and one Saturday night we went into the Sydney CBD and were pulled up by a cop as we came to the old Pyrmont Bridge, he gave us a hard time and was checking the car over when it came time for him to check over the engine he was gobsmacked. He asked Darrel for his licence and then realised that he knew his dad, well then we got a warning and were told to behave, shit, we wern't doing anything wrong in the first place.
The brengun carrier wheels were about 7 inches wide and 13 inches in diam. and they were fitted with FJ centers by either Ron Wickham or Terry O'Neill both of the Drag - Ens Hot Rod Club. Terry and Darrel both lived in Boyle St. Croydon Park, I think they both worked at Muirs Holden at Ashfield. The FJ was street driven and raced at Castlereagh and eventually became a race car only. After one night meeting Darrel was towing it home, it was on a trailer and being towed by another FJ the towbar broke off the tow car and the trailer and race car went off down the Great Western Hwy. at Pendle Hill on its own merry way. It was a four wheeled trailer and well balenced, when it got to the local milko's truck there was a big bang and that was the end of the milko's truck and his milk. The trailer continued with its load and veered out to the traffic island it clipped this and headed back to the kerb where it mounted the footpath knocking over a couple of fences and the odd water meter. When it stopped both the trailer and the FJ were trashed. This story is as I remember it being told to me around 1967 by some of my friends who were in the tow car.
There was a lot of explaining to do to the local police and I am sure that the bill that Darrel was left with was rather large. I was not with them on this trip home, but I did get a phone call after I got home to come and get my trailer, it was not worth getting. I dont know what happened to the mechanicals out of the car, but Darrel's family moved to Grafton when Inspector McCarthy was sent there to run the police station. Some years later they moved back to Sydney and lived at Ryde, Darrel stayed up on the North Coast, I have not heard from him for many years. The trailer went to Albert G Simms at Mascot, I guess the FJ finished up at Simms as well. One mans trash is another mans treasure.

[munchr]

If you look long enough some of these things turn up in strage places....

[GlenC]

Hey Bob!

Thanks for the correct information. I was born and raised in Croydon Park, lived on Burwood Rd opposite Mitchell St from 1948 until 1969. I used to hang around the Melrose St Auto Port Shell garage in Campsie with the Phantoms Rod and Custom Club, and drove a dark green 41 Willys sedan.

I saw Darrel and his FJ around Campsie, and at Castlereagh drags in the 60's, not a bad memory for 40 years down the track eh? Hey, my dad was a police constable, Ron Crawford, assistant super at the Burwood Boys Club until he passed away suddenly in 1959.

I remember one day at the drags he was trying to run it on straight alcohol, and the intake manifold had ice built up all over it. The 6 carbs were packed in so tight he had the float bowls mounted on the side of the engine bay and only the throttle bodies on the manifiold. Once he got it running on all 6 it would fly, but then he'd go to make a timed pass and it would start to play up. I remember the announcer giving him a hard time on the PA over the carbies one day.

Shame to hear about the car's demise, but maybe it will inspire someone else to take a look at the possibilities.

12 port grey motor.... Hmmm.

Cheers, Glen.

[mgtstumpy]

Have a mate up here in Q'ld who has an original Repco x-flow on his FX sedan. There's an article I have in an old 'Custom Rodder' magazine. Really trick and gives the old grey motor some extra grunt.